No. 10 'Cats Face Wolverines and Spartans on Road

9/27/2018 11:27:00 AM | Field Hockey

2018 NORTHWESTERN FIELD HOCKEY
DATE	OPPONENT	TIME (CT)	LOCATION	WATCH	LIVE STATS
Friday, Sept. 28	No. 6 Michigan	4 p.m.	Ann Arbor, Mich.	BTN2GO	Sidearm
Sunday, Sept. 30	Michigan State	11 a.m.	East Lansing, Mich.	BTN2GO	Sidearm
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EVANSTON, Ill. – No. 10 Northwestern takes a Big Ten road trip this weekend to face No. 6 Michigan on Friday and Michigan State on Sunday.

The Wildcats are 7-4 this season and coming off back-to-back ranked shutouts against No. 13 Iowa and No. 25 California last weekend, both by a 2-0 scoreline.

Junior goalkeeper Annie Kalfas won Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week on Monday and Longstreth/NFHCA Defensive Player of the Week on Wednesday for her two shutouts, which lowered her goals-against-average this season to 1.45.

First year Maren Seidel also won Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week and Freshman of the Week for her production at Lakeside Field. She scored the game winner against the Hawkeyes and then scored both goals against the Golden Bears.

Senior Puck Pentenga leads the Wildcats with 20 points, coming on six goals and eight assists. Her 38 career assists places her in a tie for third all-time in Northwestern history with Chelsea Armstrong.

Junior Kirsten Mansfield is second on the team with 13 points, coming on three goals and seven assists. Senior Eva van Agt and sophomore Lakin Barry also have three goals this season for the Wildcats.

Northwestern leads the all-time series against Michigan 31-26. The two teams met three times last season in the regular season, the Big Ten Tournament and the NCAA Tournament.

The Wildcats hold a 37-23 advantage in the all-time series against Michigan State. Last year, the 'Cats toppled the Spartans, 8-2, featuring goals from Pentenga, Mansfield, van Agt and junior Saar de Breij.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS

No. 6 Michigan

The Wolverines are 6-4 to start the season with a 2-1 record in conference, featuring ranked wins over No. 6 Penn State and No. 17 Rutgers. Their loss in conference came against No. 3 Maryland.

Senior Emma Way leads Michigan with 11 goals and two assists, while junior Meg Dowthwaite has the next best output on the team with four goals and three assists. The Wolverines have split time between both keepers, but freshman Anna Spieker has played the majority of matches, posting a 1.62 goals-against-average in seven starts while keeping a save percentage of .744.

Michigan's explosive offense averages 2.7 goals per game and allows just 1.5. The Wolverines average seven corners a game while allowing five.

Michigan State

The Spartans are 4-7 so far this season with an 0-3 record in the Big Ten coming against ranked teams in Maryland, Rutgers and Penn State.

First year Isa van der Weij leads the team with four goals and two assists while her classmate Aisha Osinga has two goals and two assists. First year Jade Arundell has started all 11 matches in goal and has allowed a goals-against-average of 2.75.

The Spartans average 1.18 goals a game but are allowing three goals a game. The team has manufactured 60 corners in 11 games and allowed 80.

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